If Chris Simon plays again for the New York Islanders, or for anyone else in the NHL, it won’t be until next season.

And it might not even be on opening night.

The NHL hit back hard Sunday, suspending the rugged Islanders forward for a league-record 25 games. Simon will miss the rest of the regular season and playoffs as punishment for his two-handed stick attack to the face of Ryan Hollweg of the New York Rangers in a 2-1 loss Thursday night.

Simon will miss the Islanders’ final 15 regular-season contests and the entire postseason, if the club gets that far. If the team plays fewer than 10 playoff games this year, the suspension will carry over to next season.

“I think what he got was pretty much expected around the league and by everybody else,” Hollweg said Sunday after the Rangers’ 2-1 win over Carolina. “What’s done is done. The league has made its decision and it’s time to move forward now. I think it’s fair.”

The ban is the longest in terms of games missed in NHL history. Marty McSorley was suspended 23 games in February 2000 for knocking out Donald Brashear with a stick-swinging hit. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman stretched that punishment to one year, and McSorley never played in the league again.

Simon’s one-year deal with the Islanders will run out before he is eligible to play again. He can become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Based on Simon’s $1 million contract, he will lose at least $80,200 because of the suspension.

Simon put on his Islanders jersey for the last time this season Friday for a team picture.

Hollweg took a few stitches in the chin, but was not seriously hurt. He was in the lineup Saturday and Sunday.

Stars 4, Kings 3: Mike Modano scored his 499th career goal 35 seconds into overtime and Dallas took over sole possession of second place in the Pacific Division with a victory over Los Angeles.

Ducks 4, Canucks 2: Teemu Selanne scored two goals and had an assist to lead Anaheim over Vancouver in a hard-hitting matchup of division leaders. The two-goal game by the 36-year-old Selanne gives him 41, making him the first player in NHL history 35 or older to record consecutive seasons with 40 or more goals.

Jaromir Jagr shook off a sore hip, setting up Marek Malik’s first goal in 75 games and then scoring in the shootout to lift the New York Rangers to a victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. … Marco Sturm had two goals and an assist to lift Boston to a win over host Detroit. The Bruins snapped a three-game losing streak.

Around 5:35 p.m., CHP officers responded to a report of the incident in westbound I-580 lanes at Main Street. En route, officers learned a vehicle's driver said a person in another vehicle brandished a handgun and fired a shot.

In addition to evacuating 10 neighboring homes, deputies restricted pedestrian and vehicle traffic in the area while the sheriff's office bomb squad "safely disposed" of the explosives, officials said.